Harris Is Confident Connecticut Can Attract More Economic Development

By Scott Benjamin

HARTFORD -- Democratic gubernatorial contender Jonathan Harris says although fiscal incentives will continue to be needed to lure businesses to Connecticut, “it’s time to get away from over-reliance on top-down economic development.”

Over the last six years, Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-Stamford) has embarked on an ambitious First Five/Next Five program, providing assistance to major employers – such as ESPN, Cigna and Bridgewater Associates - if they pledged to hire more employees over the coming years.

“It’s the way that the states compete,” Harris said regarding the efforts by governors to lure businesses to their state.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a former Greenwich resident, toured lower Fairfield County earlier this month.

In Connecticut, in 2011 Malloy attracted Jackson Labs, a biosciences company based in Maine, to move to the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington with $292 million in economic incentives.

Harris, who was executive director of the Connecticut Democratic Party through the latter stages of Malloy’s first term, said Jackson Labs, which opened in 2014, has “spurred major growth in biosciences and health care.”

However, the former mayor of West Hartford said the state government can also attract additional economic development by “knowing when to get out of the way.”

Harris said the state can improve its regulatory process just as some municipal land-use commissions have done. He said that happened when the pedestrian-friendly West Hartford Center was developed more than a decade ago while he was mayor.

He said during his more than two years as the state Commissioner of Consumer Protection, the department made it possible for professionals to obtain and renew their licenses in far less time.

Additionally, Harris said with a vast Knowledge Corridor of colleges between Springfield, Mass. and New Haven, state officials need to do a better job “of connecting the dots.”

University of Connecticut economist Fred Carstensen recently told CTNewsJunkie that his school should develop an aerospace engineering center in Storrs that would augment the Nutmeg State’s vast aerospace industry, which is topped by Francis Pratt & Amos Whitney in East Hartford, where they make jet engines, and the Lockheed Martin operations at Igor Sikorsky in Stratford, which manufactures helicopters.

Harris said he would want precise details before making a commitment to such an innovation hub, but added, “That would make sense.”

The Boston Globe reported last December that Connecticut’s largely suburban geography now puts it at a disadvantage since many millennials want to live in the metropolitan-based innovation hubs, such as Seattle, Silicon Valley and the Route 128 corridor in Massachusetts where there are higher-paying jobs and ample public transportation.

However, Harris believes Connecticut can recapture the days from the last generation when it attracted such corporate giants as UBS to Stamford and Boehringer Ingelheim to Ridgefield.

“If you create the jobs, you will get the mellenials,” he said.

Harris, an attorney who has served in the state Senate, said he believes that the hacker spaces that have been established around the state will help launch small businesses that will grow.

Regarding the projected $5.1 billion projected budget deficit for the fiscal year that starts July 1, Harris declined to say whether he would take the same position as Malloy, who has said he would veto both the Republican and Democratic proposed budgets as currently formulated. Harris said probably only the governor and legislative leaders have enough information at this juncture to fully understand the impact of each proposal.

The GOP package has called for about $2.2 billion in concessions from the state collective bargaining units, about $700 million more than the tentative agreement between the unions and the Malloy Administration.

The Republican measure calls for a suspension of binding arbitration for the collective bargaining units, compensatory time instead of overtime and tripling their contributions to the pension fund.

“I don’t see how pension contributions really help with where the problem is,” said Harris in an interview.

He said much of the costs are related to state employees who are already retired and no longer make contributions to the pension fund.

“You have to lower the cost of government to free up the dollars to smooth out those costs,” Harris explained.

He said that it would be “problematic” to alter any of the benefits that the retirees have after working many years for the state, including placing a small tax on the benefits of retired state employees who no longer live in Connecticut, since “they are no longer contributing to the [state] economy.”

Regarding the fiscal crisis, Carstensen told CTMirror this last winter that taxes would have to increase.

“You never rule out anything,” Harris said regarding the possibility of tax hikes over the coming years. “Some taxes may go up and some come down.”

He said a tax may increase, for example, but companies could receive credits based on job creation.

Harris said the state could generate money for transportation infrastructure improvements by lowering the gasoline tax and installing electronic tolls that “would not penalize people at the borders.” He added that technology has reached the point that out-of-state drivers who frequently use Connecticut roads would pay more.

The candidate said he agrees with Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst, who is seeking the Republican gubernatorial nomination, that there is a college student debt crisis that could lead to a recession since many students won’t be able to repay the loans.

“People are taking out loans that they should never take out because of the terms of the lending,” said Harris.

He said colleges could lower their costs through technology in which some back-office functions, for example, could be done off site.

On another topic, Harris said the decision by the General Assembly to approve a third casino, which would be built in East Windsor, is “understandable” considering the potential competition from a casino in Springfield, Mass.

“However, I don’t think a proliferation of casinos across Connecticut is the way to go for the future,” the candidate added.

Harris said Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, which are combining their efforts to develop the casino in East Windsor, should revise the operations at their respective existing casinos in the southeastern part of the state. He said instead of generating 70 percent of their revenue from gambling and 30 percent from entertainment, it should be 50 percent each, as is the case in Las Vegas. He said that formula would boost tourism.

There is already a bevy of other contenders to succeed Malloy, who in 2010 became the first Democrat in 24 years to be elected governor. He scored narrow victories over Greenwich businessman Tom Foley in both the 2010 and 2014 campaigns.

The list of current or potential party hopefuls includes Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman of Tolland, Branford business owner Jacey Wyatt, state Comptroller Kevin Lembo of Guilford, state Sen. Ted Kennedy Jr. of Branford, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Mattei of Hartford and Middletown Mayor Dan Drew.

Harris, who entered the race in April, said he hopes to reach the $250,000 threshold in contributions of $100 or less for the state Citizen Election Program by the end of the year.

“It’s like climbing Mount Everest,” he said since a candidate needs 3,000 to 4,000 contributions to qualify for the state grants. It appears likely that the Democratic nomination will be determined in an August primary.

Harris said, unlike Herbst and Mattei, he is accepting contributions from lobbyists, but they’ll only be a small portion of his fund-raising.

He said he will publicly disclose his personal finances before the Democratic nomination is determined.

Although, Malloy is the first Democrat to win two gubernatorial elections since the late Bill O’Neill of East Hampton in the 1980s, he only had a 24 percent approval rating in the most recent Quinnipiac University poll, taken last year.

Harris said the governor has prepared the state for building a better transportation system, made state operations more efficient and modernized technology.

He said one of the negative developments during Malloy’s administration, which also has occurred nationally, is that people have become “Balkanized.”

“We’re not talking to each other,” added Harris. “While its bad [right now in Connecticut], the sky is not falling. We need to get together and find solutions.”